Mother and daughter, Rowe Restaurant, Algoma, WV, 1978. The back story here makes the photo particularly poignant. This combination restaurant/bar was like many in coal country, open early and late to accommodate miners working around-the-clock shifts. Men came in for beers after the graveyard shift ended, while others ate breakfast before starting work. The day I came by a fist fight broke out between two burly brothers in their late teens. A few punches were thrown, but it was quickly broken up. I was sitting with the woman pictured, whose husband was the owner. She got very teary and upset, despite no one getting hurt. When I asked why, she explained she hated to see brothers fight. She went on to relate how years earlier two brothers began fighting, and the place was getting torn up. Her husband told them to stop, to no avail. He raised his shotgun from behind the bar and repeated his demand. The two charged him, and he fired his gun. Seconds later, two brothers lay dead on the barroom floor. No charges were ever brought. That was justice in the back hills of West Virginia. Jon Chase photo
(Next week we will be focusingon reviewing and making recommendations. We’ll be publishing short reviews on TV Shows, movies, music, podcasts, websites … in the words of Marlon Brando “whaddya got?” What’s enriching your world these days? Share it with you hairy fellow denizens of The Jungle! Send them to me via email. or put them in the Comments or Leave a Reply section at the very bottom of this post.)
A Tip of the Hat to all the generous and creative contributors to our Image Week and Week of Memoirs:
